


Finals Week

by megastarstrike



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Definitely OOC, Gen, Non-Despair AU, Some swear words, byakuya from sdr2, characterization exaggerations, exaggerations of finals, so theyll call each other by their first names, takes place in an american school, teachers and other authority figures are called by last names, togami is from dr1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-21 07:45:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10680837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megastarstrike/pseuds/megastarstrike
Summary: Finals week is beginning at Hope's Peak University, and no one is prepared in the slightest.





	Finals Week

**Author's Note:**

> All events are separated with no particular order unless stated otherwise. This is basically an experiment with exaggerated characterization. Feel free to roast me in the comments.

Hajime could feel the tension as he walked into Professor Yukizome’s classroom. By tension, he meant the heat of multiple lit candles with several bodies gathered around them.

Upon further investigation, he recognized Mahiru, and Sonia sitting with candles around them as well as Kazuichi and Leon sprawled on the floor.

“Um, hi?” Hajime said before sitting down next to a candle. “What's going on?”

Sonia turned to him with bright eyes and piped, “We are lighting candles for our classmates who forgot it was finals week! It's such an interesting culture. Thank you for letting me partake in this.”

An anvil dropped in Hajime’s stomach. “Wait, it’s finals week?”

Mahiru sighed and grabbed a candle and lighter. “Well, there goes another one.”

“Holy shit, fuck, what the hell?” Hajime ran out of the room before Mahiru could scold him for his language.

Hopefully the library hadn't run out of study rooms.

 

*

 

Was she going to be late to her first final?

Akane had already woken up late after his alarm clock failed to go off. Then the coffee pot decided to stop working, the vending machine was jammed, and now here she was, running towards the finals building for dear life.

She spotted Professor Yukizome giving her a meaningful gaze and tapping her watch before walking up the steps.

Oh, hell no.

Akane braced herself before running at the wall and gripping the bricks. She pushed herself up with her legs and scaled the building as civilians gaped at her.

She arrived at the appropriate window a few moments later. She steadied herself on the windowsill and tapped on it.

A classmate shrieked before pulling the window open.

Akane rolled in and raced to her seat right before Yukizome walked in.

Yukizome did a double take. “What? How did-”

“Don't do that!” Sakakura shouted from behind Yukizome. His face was flushed red, and he panted as sweat dripped from his chin onto his security guard uniform.

Akane grinned. “Sorry, man, but I gotta take my final.”

The class erupted in discussion of what had just happened and laughter when Sakakura was kicked out of the room and sent back to his usual post.

Akane had to thank Nekomaru for his lessons later.

 

*

 

“What do you mean the final is cumulative?”

The entirety of Miss Usami’s classroom jumped out of their seats and leaned forward with wide, panicked eyes.

Usami flinched and raised her arms to protect her head. “That's what I was told by the board at yesterday’s meeting. I'm sowwy.” She ducked when someone threw a textbook at her.

Kazuichi already crumbled from the pressure. He held his head with tears forming at the ends of his eyes. “How am I gonna pass my classes? The final is cumulative! Cumulative!”

Chiaki patted him on the shoulder but it didn't seem to have any effect.

“Surely the board will respond to our appeals to revert the order,” Sonia tried reasoning.

“What kind of luck is this?” Nagito muttered.

Byakuya tried to calm the classroom. “Everyone, calm down. It doesn't matter if the final is cumulative. I'm sure all of us will pass.”

No one calmed down.

Gundam reached into his scarf and pulled out his four hamsters. “My four dark devas… I'm sorry you must endure this experience.” He flinched when a hamster bit his finger.

By the way the classroom hadn't been destroyed yet, Nekomaru and Akane must have been absent.

Hajime let out a shriek with a literal blue face of despair.

“Ah, why does stuff like this always happen to Ibuki?” Ibuki groaned. “‘Cumulative Finals are a Crime Against Humanity,’ that'll be Ibuki’s next song.” She grabbed out a sheet of paper and started scribbling lyrics onto it.

The other students were either far too dead inside to care or crying.

Usami tried speaking up only to be silenced by another textbook.

 

*

 

The class had finished their math final. Students filed out in silent shame.

Chiaki was the first to leave, unaffected by the final. What had been done was already done. She knew there was no going back and reverting her decisions to stay up playing video games instead of studying, and she was happy with that decision. She walked out humming a tune.

Hajime left soon after. He cursed to himself as he hit himself repeatedly on the head, muttering, "You studied this for hours, how could you forget so soon?"

Celestia sighed and walked out. "I've gambled my grades away," she had mumbled.

Kyouko left with a blank face, though Kazuichi swore he heard someone screaming in the hallway that sounded much like her.

Soon, only Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko were left sitting in the seats.

Gold eyes met pink. They nodded, maintaining eye contact.

Kazuichi stood up and pulled open one of the classroom’s windows before setting a foot on the windowsill. “So how far do you think the distance is from the window to the ground?”

“Enough.”

 

*

 

Being roommates with Kazuichi was a huge mistake.

Hajime poured himself a cup of orange juice before Kazuichi emerged from his room.

Kazuichi’s black hat was lopsided to the point of almost falling off. Stains littered his jumpsuit and face. Wrinkles were already developing on his face as well as bags under his bloodshot eyes. His mouth was open in a constant yawn. He looked as if he had been dumpster-diving for a week rather than studying. Despite that, his lips curled up into a smile.

Hajime raised an eyebrow at his disheveled appearance. “Good morning?”

Kazuichi said nothing but grabbed a bowl of cereal and a Monster energy drink.

Hajime’s eyes widened in realization. “Are you seriously-” He was interrupted by Kazuichi popping the can open and pouring it into the cereal.

Kazuichi reached for a mug and the coffee pot. He poured in every last drop of coffee before adding in half the Monster energy drink. He mixed it with a spoon and hummed to himself, his eerie smile never leaving his face.

Hajime gaped at him.

Kazuichi laughed. “I'm gonna die.”

Then he started drinking the mystery concoction, and Hajime’s faith in humanity plummeted.

 

*

 

The walk in the science building was surreal, to say the least.

Hajime walked through the plain white halls, reading all the swear words on colorful sticky notes pasted on the walls. So far, he had counted twenty-one hells, thirty-six shits, two hellas, and astonishingly no fucks given.

He spotted a familiar head of blonde hair walking towards him. “Ah, Fuyuhiko, have you taken your science final yet?”

Fuyuhiko ignored him and walked outside.

Hajime followed.

Fuyuhiko held up his binder of science notes before pulling out a lighter and setting it on fire. Flames licked the paper until it disintegrated into a gray powder. He growled and stepped on the ashes. “I'm so fucking done! I can't do this anymore! Why did I think this was a good idea? Fuck!"

Hajime backed away.

 

*

 

Hajime thought nursing majors were supposed to be the sanest people at Hope’s Peak University. Having calm nerves and an understanding of humans was presumably an important part of the major, if not  _the_ most important.

He watched Mikan as she twiddled her thumbs and paced around the library.

“Don't worry, finals are a form of natural selection. I am the strongest and most adaptable, so I will survive the longest out of everyone,” she said to no one in particular, "Yes, I will survive!" She giggled to herself as a pencil rolled off the table and textbook pages flipped by themselves. She ignored it and continued to laugh.

Again, Hajime backed away.

 

*

 

Junko’s eye twitched at another announcement.

“Due to the board’s changes, students will no longer take finals online," the intercom speaker said.

Yesterday’s announcement was, “Due to the board’s changes, teachers must report student progress.”

A day before that, the speaker said, “Due to the board’s changes, finals will be cumulative.”

Last week’s announcement was, “Due to the board’s changes, professors will not be getting a winter bonus this year.”

Junko closed her eyes and muttered, “If I hear ‘due to the board’s changes’ one more time, I swear I'll pull the damn fire alarm during graduation.”

The intercom speaker cleared their throat. “Due to the board’s changes…”

No one was pleased at graduation.

 

*

 

Yasuhiro really tried. He truly, actually, to the best of his ability, tried to study for his finals.

“You shouldn't just rely on fortunes for your finals,” Makoto had said.

“Fortune telling won't help you on your finals,” Togami had told him.

“Study,” they all said.

So Yasuhiro did.

But as his eyes swept through the words on the page, he couldn't process any of it. Communication literacy? Quantitative skills? What were those? He was running on two hours of sleep, and he hadn’t eaten anything in eighteen hours. All of this was utter bullshit.

Yasuhiro grabbed a magic eight ball from a drawer labeled "For desperate measures" and headed to his finals.

Makoto had made it to the classroom early. He waved at Yasuhiro before pointing at the magic eight ball. “Why did you bring that?”

Yasuhiro sighed and held his head. “Look, man, I give up. I'm gonna take a magic eight ball to finals and just use it to decide how to answer stuff.”

"Are you sure? I mean, it _is_ a toy."

"It's more than a toy, Makoto. It's a lifestyle."

Makota chose to drop the subject.

Oh, how sweet was Makoto’s face of despair when he realized Yasuhiro received a higher grade than him. By thirty percent, to be exact.

 

*

 

Another day, another round of suffering.

The class was already feeling the final blues three days into finals week.

Ibuki took out a recorder and attempted to play “My Heart Will Go On.”

Gundam resorted to allowing his four dark devas to bite his fingers.

Teruteru’s hands shook as he combed his hair. He cursed when the comb snapped in half.

Nagito stared straight ahead, his usual smile gone just like everyone's hopes and dreams.

Kazuichi gulped down the remains of his mystery concoction and looked like he was on the verge of tears when he realized every drop of the drink was gone.

Sonia stared down at her desk with a resigned frown.

Akane took small bites out of a sandwich she had packed three days before and forgot about.

Nekomaru was again absent.

Byakuya looked around at his classmates and sighed.

Mahiru did the same.

Mikan shook as she cried at the idea of failing the upcoming final.

Hiyoko rolled her eyes and popped a piece of gum in her mouth.

Junko twirled her hair with her finger. Mushrooms appeared to be growing at the top of her head.

“Hey, Chiaki,” Hajime called, tapping her shoulder.

She turned tilted her head at him.

“You're still the class rep, right?”

"Yeah, why?"

“I want you to get the saddest Pepe you can find and make it our class logo.”

Chiaki looked around the classroom and smiled. “I guess it suits us.”

The next day, a rare sad Pepe was taped on the classroom’s door.

 

*

 

It was time for another final, and no one was excited.

Leon turned to Makoto and asked, “What if I just straight up break down and scare the shit out of Prof Yukizome so she'll postpone the test?”

Makoto smiled but furrowed his eyebrows. “That's not going to work.”

“Shut up, you can't tell me what to do.”

As soon as Yukizome walked in the room, Leon fell to the ground with the drama of a high school theater kid. He pretended to sob. “We’re taking the finals already? Why? I'll never get a job in this world. I'll always be a failure. Why, world? What did I ever do to you?”

Yukizome laughed and nudged him with her foot. “Get up, Leon. You've pulled this act four times last month.”

“None of them worked,” Leon muttered as he returned to his seat.

Makoto would have given him a smug smirk if he wasn't completely screwed as well.

 

*

 

“I have never seen you study like this before,” Hajime said to Kazuichi. “What's your GPA?”

Kazuichi froze before dismissing his words and laughing. “Look, as long as my GPA is 2.0 or higher, I'm fine. I'm totally fine.”

“Didn't you say at the beginning of this year that you would get a 4.0?”

“The only 4.0 I’m getting is when girls rate me.”

“I'm guessing it's a 2.1, then?”

Kazuichi's face visibly brightened. “Hell yeah! I’m living the life! I got an extra 0.1 on my GPA, I can afford to fail my finals. I feel richer than that Togami dude."

"Um, no, you can't afford to fail your finals. If you fail one, you're out of this school."

"Shut up. Let me enjoy this."

Hajime rolled his eyes but grabbed a math textbook off their bookshelf.

 

*

 

While being roommates with Kazuichi was weird, being roommates with Hiyoko was emotionally taxing.

Mahiru looked over Hiyoko’s shoulder at the mess of science notes. “Hey, how are finals going?”

Hiyoko gave her a bright grin and said, “Great! I only have nine more chapters to study.”

“When's your final?”

“Tomorrow. 8 in the morning. It's 5 AM now.”

“Oh.”

Hiyoko laughed. “I'm fine. Everything's fine.”

Mahiru patted her on the back. “I'm heading to the store for more coffee. Want me to pick up some gummies?”

“No yellow ones.”

Mahiru chuckled. “I'll do my best.”

Mahiru started walking to the convenience store before an epiphany hit her.

She had the exact same final at the exact same time, and she hadn’t studied. There was only one thing that would save her now.

She ran back to her dorm and burst open the door. “Hiyoko! Do you know if we're using scantrons for the final?”

Hiyoko’s eyes glazed over. “I don't even know how to spell scantron. Just go get me my gummies.”

Mahiru closed the door and trudged her way to the convenience store, her falling GPA heavy on her heart.

 

*

 

“Stab me in the eye, and I'll buy you dinner,” Fuyuhiko said, grabbing Peko’s arm.

Peko blinked. “Young Master, I can't do that to you. Don't you technically already pay a portion of dinner every night anyway?”

“Please.”

“I thought you finished all of your finals.”

“No, I only finished math and science. My history final is in two hours.”

“I already took the history final.”

“Really? What was on there?”

Peko thought back to the test. “I think most of it was just on major world leaders and their accomplishments. There were a few questions on economy and diplomatic relations between Japan, China, and South Korea. We got a study guide."

"Wait, your class got a study guide? Can I borrow it?"

Peko fished a packet of papers out of her backpack and handed it to Fuyuhiko.

Fuyuhiko flipped through the pages. "Peko, you're a god. Thank you so much!" He wrapped Peko in a hug.

Peko initially froze but soon smiled and reciprocated.

 

*

 

“So you've been studying since ten in the morning?” Kyouko asked.

Makoto nodded and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and that was probably the case. Bags formed under his eyes. His bright green eyes had lost their luster. Stained were splattered over his clothes as well as his mouth. His smile was long gone.

“It's six in the evening. Assuming you haven’t taken a break, you’ve been studying for eight straight hours. You need to stop before you burn yourself out.” Despite her words, Kyouko handed him a mug of coffee.

Makoto downed it all in one gulp. “Thanks for looking out for me, Kyouko,” he said. He tried to smile but it didn't seem right.

Kyouko turned away. “Sure.”

 

*

 

The library was filled to the brim with students frantically typing up essays and studying.

Hajime could see a girl with a curly bun surrounded by several books on swimming champions. Another girl leaning on her typed an essay on what seemed to be about forms of martial arts.

He could see Chiaki’s pillow fort, a place she had made three days ago and hasn’t left since. Her arm would occasionally poke out to reach for another book. She let out a scream approximately every two hours, according to the librarian Touko.

But what was most surprisingly was Nagito smiling with his earbuds plugged in. He appeared to be reading a mystery novel, and Hajime was sure that no professor was shitty enough to assign a novel study during finals week.

Hajime’s mind cycled through a few possibilities before deciding on one.

Holy shit, was he already done with his finals? That was bullshit.

Hajime tapped on Nagito’s shoulder, prompting the other boy to turn around and take out one earbud.

“Are you seriously already done with your finals?” Hajime asked, his voice cracking. “I'll kill myself if you are, what the fuck?”

Nagito laughed and held his hands up. “No, I'm not done. I still have my science final.”

“Then why aren't you studying? Do you _want_ to fail the final?”

“I might fail the final, but I also might die before I take it, so let's not jump to any conclusions here,” Nagito said.

Hajime frowned. “Nagito, you're not going to die.”

“Like I said, let's not jump to any conclusions."

Hajime sighed before leaving to search for a place to study.

Much to his displeasure, Nagito did not die before the final though whatever was left of his soul sure did.

 

*

 

At this point, nothing fazed Togami, not even Makoto walking into the library at one in the morning with a huge stack of books in his arms and the determination of someone who forgot about a term paper.

Makoto offered him a smile before his books scattered on the ground with a thud.

The two stared at the book pile in disappointment.

Makoto sighed. He signed onto a school computer and cracked open a book on criminal behaviors.

The two sat in silence.

Togami eventually broke it and said, “That book is utterly useless in research. I suggest looking at ‘Criminal Minds’ by Jeff Davis. It should be in the third bookcase on the left.”

Makoto looked up from his book, startled by the sudden noise. He closed it before standing up and looking for the suggested book. “Thanks for looking out for me, Togami.”

“I wasn't looking out for you.”

Makoto smiled. “Whatever you say.”

 

*

 

Kiyotaka had hit a wall he couldn't pass. Writer’s block stood in front of him on his way to completing a thesis, sneering and refusing to move like a playground bully. He would have banged his head on the keyboard if Mondo hadn't brought a math textbook and multiple worksheets to his table.

Mondo tugged at whatever hair was left at the back of his head. “Holy shit, I have no idea what's going on in math, and my final’s tomorrow. I know you're busy, but can you help me?”

“Language. And I would be glad to help you, bro. Logarithms are fun!”

Of course, the last sentence translated to “Putting off writing a thesis is fun!”

Mondo blinked. “Really? Thanks, bro!”

“Anything for my bro!”

The thesis never got finished, and that was Kiyotaka’s first brush with procrastination.

 

*

 

Makoto and Hajime walked out of the math department together. A wide grin took over their faces as they tossed their notes into the bonfire the other students had created in the local junkyard.

Akane and Nekomaru roasted sausages over the fire with the guidance of Teruteru.

Sonia marveled at the example of student culture, and Kazuichi marveled over Sonia’s shining eyes.

Gundam held his hands to the fire as if he were absorbing its energy. His hamsters imitated his movements.

Chiaki paid no attention to them, instead playing a video game and tossing in papers when necessary.

Both Togami’s sat away from the crowd but held a microscopic smile on their faces.

Ibuki strummed her guitar and played her latest song “Finals are Finally Finished.” Sayaka and Hiyoko danced along to Ibuki's song, laughing.

The others tossed their notes in one by one, their smiles growing wider as it sets in that they were free from finals and a summer break was coming up in a few weeks. Laughter and smiles spread around the group.

The laughter was replaced with screams when the fire began swallowing the land around it.

Kyouko grabbed a fire extinguisher nearby and put out the fire before it could reach anyone.

A silence emerged before everyone laughed as Nagito tried to apologize for his bad luck.

No one paid any attention to him. Instead, they lied on their backs and watched stars twinkle in the night sky, chattering about their summer plans and previous suffering.

Finally. Finals were over.  
  
One year of college done. Five more to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's Ibuki's rendition of "My Heart Will Go On." : https://youtu.be/G44xTr8D_bw  
> Here's the saddest pepe: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKJergKUkAApKxF.jpg  
> As for Criminal Minds, I've never watched it or read the synopsis, so I can't say anything about the quality. I don't know if there's actually a book called Criminal Minds either.  
> Good luck on your finals, everyone!


End file.
